Segmented fluid seal assembly

ABSTRACT

A rotor assembly for a turbine engine includes a rotor disk having rotor blades mounted about the circumference and rotatable about a central longitudinal axis. A fluid seal extends about the circumference of the rotor disk in close proximity to a stationary component to separate the space between the rotor blades and a stationary component into separate cavities. The fluid seal includes a plurality of disk seal segments and a plurality of blade seal segments. The disk seal segments each attach to the rotor disk between the rotor blades. The blade seal segments attach to the blades. After the blades are assembled the blade seal segments and the disk seal segments align to form a segmented, ring-like fluid seal around the circumference of the rotor disk.

This application discloses subject matter related to co-pending USpatent applications “HAMMERHEAD FLUID SEAL” (U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/146,801); “COMBINED BLADE ATTACHMENT AND DISK LUG FLUIDSEAL” (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/146,798); and “BLADE NECKFLUID SEAL” (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/146,660), each filed onJul. 7, 2005, and “INTEGRATED BLADED FLUID SEAL” (U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/260,357), filed on Oct. 27, 2005. Thedisclosures of each aforementioned application are incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to an arrangement for loading andretaining a segmented fluid seal assembly within a gas turbine engine.

Turbine engines include high and low rotor spools comprising multiplerotor disks. Fluid seals are formed integrally into each rotor disk tocontact stator components, such as a stator vane, support or tangentialon-board injector. The seals restrict leakage of compressed air frombetween the stator component and the rotor disks and separate the lowerpressure gaspath air from the higher pressure compressed air used forcooling.

Due to the rotor disk geometry, multiple machining passes are requiredto produce the thin sectional area required for the fluid seal. This isunduly complex. Also, during operation of the engine the fluid seal maycontact an abradable material on the stationary components, causingwear. Because the fluid seal is integrally formed with the rotor disk ofthe compressor, the entire rotor disk must be repaired or replaced whenthe fluid seal has worn. The replacement costs for the seal componentscan be reduced by making the fluid seals non-integral to the rotor disk,and segmented.

An improved arrangement for loading and retaining fluid seals within agas turbine engine is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example rotor for a turbine engine according to this inventionincludes an arrangement for incorporating a fluid seal assembly, whichis separate from the rotor disk.

A typical turbine engine rotor includes multiple rotor disks with rotorblades mounted about the circumference of each of the rotor disks. Aplurality of stator vanes extend axially between adjacent rotor disks. Afluid seal assembly extends about the circumference of each rotor diskin close proximity to a stationary component of the rotor. The fluidseal assembly separates the space between the rotor blades andstationary components into separate, pressurized cavities.

The fluid seal assembly includes a plurality of disk seal segments and aplurality of blade seal segments spaced around the circumference of therotor disk and fitting together to form a segmented fluid seal. Stressplaced on the rotor disk during engine operation does not transfer tothe fluid seal because the disk seal segments and blade seal segmentsare separate elements from the rotor disk and segmented from oneanother.

The disk seal segments each have a disk attaching feature and the rotordisk includes a complimentary shaped seal attaching feature. The diskattaching feature interfits with the seal attaching feature to retainthe disk seal segment to the rotor disk.

The blade seal segments each have a blade attaching feature and each ofthe rotor blades include a complimentary shaped seal attaching feature.The blade attaching feature interfits with the seal attaching feature toretain the blade seal segment to the rotor blade. Once the blade sealsegment is attached, the rotor blade is loaded into a blade slot in therotor disk. After the rotor blade is assembled in the blade slot theblade seal segments and the disk seal segments fit together to form asegmented fluid seal around the circumference of the rotor disk.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understoodfrom the following specification and drawings, the following of which isa brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example turbine engine of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of a cross-section of a typical rotor forthe example turbine engine of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of region 3-3 from FIG. 2, illustrating aportion of an example fluid seal;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example disk seal segment and rotordisk of the present invention during assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an example blade seal segment and rotorblade of the present invention during assembly;

FIG. 6 illustrates the rotor disk after the rotor blades, blade sealsegments and disk seal segments are assembled;

FIG. 7 illustrates a disk seal segment having a first interlockingfeature and a blade seal segment having a second interlocking feature;and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another example blade seal segment androtor blade of the present invention during assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a turbine engine 10. Air is pulled intothe turbine engine 10 by a fan 12 and flows through a low pressurecompressor 14 and a high pressure compressor 16. Fuel is mixed with theair and combustion occurs within the combustor 18. Exhaust fromcombustion flows through a high pressure turbine 20 and a low pressureturbine 22 prior to leaving the engine through an exhaust nozzle 24.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of a cross-section of a typical turbineengine rotor showing a rotor disk 26, which is one of several defining aturbine rotor. Each rotor disk 26 of the rotor rotates about an axis Alocated along the longitudinal centerline of the turbine engine 10. Aplurality of rotor blades 28 are mounted about the circumference of eachrotor disk 26. A plurality of stationary stator vanes 30 extend radiallyinwardly between the rotor blades 28 of axially adjacent rotor disks 26,as known.

Each rotor disk 26 includes a disk rim 32. The disk rim 32 is located atthe radially outer portion of the disk and secures the rotor blades 28.A fluid seal 34 extends about the circumference of the disk rim 32. Thefluid seal 34 is preferably formed of the same material as the rotordisk 26 such as any ferrous, nickel, or ceramic materials. The fluidseal 34 is in close proximity to a stationary component 36 of thecompressor such as a stator, a support or a tangential on-board injector(TOBI). The fluid seal 34 is illustrated as extending axially toward thestationary component 36.

A cavity 38 is located axially above the fluid seal 34 and defined bythe stator vane 30 and the rotor blade 28. Lower pressure air within thecavity 38 is flowing circumferentially about the axis A of rotation forthe rotor disk 26. An interior cavity 40 is located axially below thefluid seal 34 and defined by the rotor disk 26 and the stationarycomponent 36. A TOBI nozzle 42 leading from the stationary component 36allows higher pressure cooling air to reach the interior cavity 40.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the example fluid seal 34. The fluid seal34 includes a main body 44 and a plurality of knife edges 46 extendingfrom the main body 44 toward the stationary component 36. The stationarycomponent 36 can include an abradable honeycomb material 48 at alocation corresponding to of the knife edges 46. During operation of thecompressor the knife edges 46 are contacting the abradable honeycombmaterial 48. The knife edges 46 rotate with the rotor disk 26 while theabradable honeycomb material is stationary. During extreme radialexcursions of the rotor, the knife edges 46 and the abradable honeycombmaterial 48 may interfere, causing wear. When the wear becomessufficient the fluid seal 34 and/or the abradable honeycomb material 48must be repaired or replaced.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 the fluid seal 34 includes a plurality ofdisk seal segments 50 and a plurality of blade seal segments 52 spacedaround the circumference of the disk rim 32 and fitting together to forma segmented fluid seal 34 about the disk rim 32. The disk seal segments50, shown in FIG. 4, are mounted to the disk rim 32 between the rotorblades 28. The blade seal segments 52 are attached to the rotor blades28 and then assembled into the rotor disk 26.

Once assembled, each of the disk seal segments 50 and blade sealsegments 52 mates with a circumferentially adjacent seal segment 50 or52 to provide a segmented, ring-like structure. Stress placed on rotordisk 26 during engine operation does not transfer to the fluid seal 34because the disk seal segments 50 and blade seal segments 52 areseparate elements from the rotor disk 26 and segmented from one another.The arrangement also allows for replacement of individual segments 50and 52 without requiring an entire new rotor disk 26.

The disk seal segments 50 each have a disk attaching feature 54 and thedisk rim 32 includes a corresponding seal attaching feature 56. The diskattaching feature 54 interfits with the seal attaching feature 56 toretain the disk seal segment 50 to the disk rim 32. In the exampleshown, the disk attaching feature 54 is a groove and the seal attachingfeature 56 is a tongue. The disk seal segments 50 are assembled onto therotor disk 26 prior to assembly of the rotor blades 28. Alternatively,the disk seal segments 50 may be integrally formed with the rotor disk26.

The blade seal segments 52 each have a blade attaching feature 58 andeach of the blades 28 include a seal attaching feature 60. The bladeattaching feature 58 interfits with the seal attaching feature 60 toretain the blade seal segment 52 to the rotor blade 28. In the exampleshown, the blade attaching feature 58 is a groove and the seal attachingfeature 60 is a tongue formed in the base of the rotor blade 28. Oncethe blade seal segment 52 is attached, the rotor blade 28 is loaded intoa blade slot 62 in the disk rim 32. Walls 64 in the disk rim 32 definethe individual blade slots 62. Then the rotor blade 28 is loaded in theblade slot 62 the walls 64 prevent the blade seal segment 52 fromseparating from the rotor blade 28.

FIG. 6, illustrates the rotor disk 26 after the rotor blades 28 areassembled in the blade slots 62. The blade seal segments 52 and the diskseal segments 50 align to form a segmented, ring-like fluid seal 34around the circumference of the rotor disk 26. In addition, the bladeseal segments 52 prevent the disk seal segments 50 from separating fromthe seal attaching feature 56 (shown in FIG. 4).

FIG. 7 shows the disk seal segment 50 having a first overlapping feature74 and the blade seal segment 52 having a second overlapping feature 76.The first overlapping feature 74 and the second overlapping feature 76interfit with one another to align the disk seal segments 50 with theblade seal segments 52, thus reducing circumferential leakage betweenthe segments 50 and 52. The first overlapping feature and the secondoverlapping feature can be a ship lap, tongue and groove or otherinterfitting elements know in the art.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example embodiment including a plurality ofblade seal segments 66. The blade seal segments 66 each have a bladeattaching feature 68 and each of the blades 28 include a seal attachingfeature 70. The blade attaching feature 68 interfits with the sealattaching feature 70 to retain the blade seal segment 66 to the rotorblade 28. Once the blade seal segment 66 is attached, the rotor blade 28is loaded into a blade slot 62 in the disk rim 32. Walls 64 in the diskrim 32 define the individual blade slots 62. When the rotor blade 28 isloaded in the blade slot 62, the walls 64 prevent the blade seal segment66 from separating from the rotor blade 28.

Each of the blade seal segments 66 have a main body 72 which extendsoutward to contact a main body 72 of the circumferentially adjacentblade seal segment 66. After the rotor blade 28 is assembled in theblade slot 62 the blade seal segments 66 fit together to form asegmented, ring-like fluid seal 34 around the circumference of the rotordisk 26. In this embodiment, disk seal segments 50 are not necessarybecause there is no gap between one blade seal segment 66 and the nextblade seal segment 66.

Although the example embodiment discloses an arrangement of assemblingfluid seal segments onto a rotor disk for a turbine rotor thearrangement may be used for any rotor and seal assembly.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, aworker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certainmodifications would come within the scope of this invention. For thatreason, the following claims should be studied to determine the truescope and content of this invention.

1. A bladed rotor assembly comprising: a rotor disk defining a disk rimand having a plurality of rotor blades mounted to the disk rim; and aplurality of blade seal segments with one mounted to each of theplurality of rotor blades wherein the plurality of blade seal segmentsform a seal located about a circumference of the disk rim.
 2. The bladedrotor assembly of claim 1, wherein the seal further comprises aplurality of disk seal segments with one located between adjacent pairsof the blade seal segments.
 3. The bladed rotor assembly of claim 2,wherein the disk seal segments comprise a disk mounting feature and thedisk rim comprises a complimentary shaped seal mounting feature tointerfit with the disk mounting feature.
 4. The bladed rotor assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the blade seal segments each comprise a knife edgeextending toward a stationary component.
 5. The bladed rotor assembly ofclaim 4, wherein the knife edges extend about the circumference of thedisk rim to contact the knife edge of the adjacent blade seal segmentforming a segmented, ring-like knife edge.
 6. The bladed rotor assemblyof claim 4, wherein the stationary component is a tangential on-boardinjector, a support or a stator vane.
 7. The bladed rotor assembly ofclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of blade seal segments comprisean attaching feature corresponding to a seal attaching portion of arotor blade.
 8. The bladed rotor assembly of claim 7, wherein the diskrim comprises a plurality of blade slots each for receiving the rotorblade and the blade seal segment.
 9. A bladed rotor assembly comprising:a rotor disk defining a disk rim and having a plurality of rotor bladesmounted to the disk rim; and a plurality of blade seal segments with onemounted between each of the plurality of rotor blades and the disk rim;and a plurality of disk seal segments mounted to the disk rim betweenadjacent pairs of the plurality of blade seal segments, wherein theplurality of blade seal segments and the plurality of disk seal segmentsalign to form a seal located about the circumference of the disk rim.10. The bladed rotor assembly of claim 9, wherein the seal formed by theplurality of blade seal segments and the plurality of disk seal segmentsextends toward a stator component.
 11. The bladed rotor assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the stator component is a tangential on-boardinjector, a support or a stator vane.
 12. The bladed rotor assembly ofclaim 9 wherein each of the plurality of blade seal segments comprise anattaching feature corresponding to a seal attaching portion of the rotorblades.
 13. The bladed rotor assembly of claim 9, the disk rim comprisesa plurality of blade slots each for receiving the rotor blade and theblade seal segment.
 14. The bladed rotor assembly of claim 9, whereinthe disk rim comprises a disk attaching feature corresponding to anattaching feature on the disk deal segment.
 15. A fluid seal assemblycomprising: a plurality of blade seal segments each having a bodydefining a knife edge protruding from the body and towards a turbineengine component; and a plurality of disk seal segments each having abody defining a knife edge protruding from the body and towards theturbine engine component, wherein the plurality of blade seal segmentsinterfit with the plurality of disk seal segments to form a segmented,ring-like fluid seal.
 16. The fluid seal assembly of claim 15,comprising a blade attaching feature on each of the plurality of bladeseal segments for attaching each blade seal segment to a rotor blade anda disk attaching feature on each of the plurality of disk seal segmentsfor attaching each disk seal segment to a rotor disk
 17. The fluid sealassembly of claim 15, comprising a first interlocking feature on each ofthe plurality of blade seal segments and a second interlocking featureon each of the plurality of disk seal segments, wherein the firstinterlocking feature and the second interlocking feature on adjacentblade seal segments and disk seal segments are complimentary shaped andinterfit with one another.